Affluenza...the new swine?

These past few days in sociology have really opened my eyes to the reality of our nation's overconsumption. I think everyone has heard that we're "addicted to stuff" as a society, and that the dangers we're overlooking will have disastrous ramifications on future generations. Materialism and competition are becoming understood given factors in life, and that is something that needs to be changed. The United States is more focused on finding the new and improved then finding the solutions to problems we've faced for decades. However, I hope with this recession and the troubles we're facing as a nation, affluenza will get as much media attention as swine flu. Maybe if we raise awareness, we can make changes: slow, progressive changes, but changes nonetheless. It is vital that we change the focus of our lives in order to resurrect our suffering relationships, wallets, and planet.

A BRONX TALE

Collogero lives in a neighborhood unlike anything I, or probably any other teenager in the suburbs, have ever encountered. The sense of everybody knows everybody and everybody's business is nearly impossible within a school of 4500, much less the actual community itself. The reality constructed in his neighborhood is vastly different from what I know. His neighborhood is centered around Sonny and his crew and the power and control they have over the entire town. They have their hands in just about every aspect of the neighborhood, and due to his wealth and power, he has authority. The people of C's community know that Sonny is the boss, and that he, or one of his men, is always watching. I think this unwritten rule changes how the people live their lives because all are wary that they might cross Sonny, and that's not a position anyone wants to be in. The unwritten rules are understood in the neighborhood: that you do what Sonny says. A common theme of the movie is the difference between love, respect, and fear. Does fearing someone mean you respect them? Is fear more powerful then love? I think in some cases both questions are true, but in C's community, they almost have to be. Another social construct is the seemingly required racism. This mindless hatred is made evident through C's friends' actions. I view their racism as a social construct because I think few could stop and tell you why they don't like their African American neighbors. It is a societal expectation for them to be prejudiced towards black people. The racist attitudes are the norm for the neighborhood. C represents how the social constructs can be broken, how racism isn't a given, and how one can forge their own path without regard for what society may deem as "right" or "acceptable".

Stereotypes

This week we talked a lot about stereotypes versus generalizations. We compared labor to business, and I realized that the connotations of specific words are easily swayed by stereotypes. The quote we read about the difference between business and labor was kind of a reality check because I don't think we as a society realize how we categorize. There are little to no labor studies programs while high school teenagers are cut throat competing to find the best business schools in the country. Stereotypes dominate our culture, especially in teens and children because we have opinions and biased views thrust onto us by the media and by our environment. It is nearly impossible to avoid these stereotypes because they are so often viewed as the norm. Stereotypes are misunderstood as generalizations. I think this is a really interesting topic to explore, and I hope we can learn more about it.

Titanic Take Two?

The activity we did in class that dealt with the lifeboat situation revealed a lot about social constructs and societal expectations. It was really interesting to see how my classmates dealt with the circumstances they faced. Knowing that those who were rejected from the lifeboat were "killed" didn't really seem to faze anyone. Facing the real situation would probably be completely different. I was shocked as a "sociologist" observing to see the pregnant woman character leave the boat. I originally assumed she was a given to stay. I probably thought that way due to society's value on safe pregnancy. It was funny to watch how everyone reacted to other characters, as well as took on their own role. Acting to fill the roles seemed to change who became a leader and who stayed on the boat. I think experiments like those give us an insight as to why people act the way they do.

FREAKS AND GEEKS

so I originally wrote this after Freaks and Geeks, but I pressed save now instead of publish post so I thought it'd been up this whole time even though it hadn't.

I've really enjoyed watching Freaks and Geeks so far, and I'm really excited to see how it ends. I think the characters are really interesting and easy to relate to even though it's supposed to be the 80s. I have question 2 to do, and it's made me realize that all relationships have some focus on power. There's going to be a party aggressively searching for power, and another passively avoiding it. Or there could be a conflict between two groups striving for power. In that sense, I agree with the Conflict Theory. I think the creators of the show had a great idea, and it's annoying that the series wasn't a success because it would've been really interesting to learn about what happens to the characters as time goes on.